


A Day at the Gym

by csbanahan



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Original Characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csbanahan/pseuds/csbanahan
Summary: Team Victory have a nice relaxing day at the gym. Absolutely nothing goes wrong and there's nothing to worry about.
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

The Trip to the Metro station directly after school, the last time magical girls who spend huge amounts of each day in each other's company are together before the personal time the girls get between school and patrol hours. A time to pursue ones own interests and be oneself for at least a little bit of time. A time when the girls who take a breather from the boon companions that learn and fight with them.

Power Victory was never the biggest fan.

"So, what are we all doing this afternoon?" She asked this every day (excluding the days she skipped class in favor of training). On the surface it seemed like the sort of small talk that warrants small answers; A way to fill awkward silences and show a modicum of emotional investment in the lives of her 'little sisters'. She knew the answers. But she always hoped that maybe things would be a little different.

"Not going to the arcade, that's for sure. Fridays have been horrible lately." This came as a small shock to Power. Pixel went to the arcade more days than not, especially on the weekends. "There are always other girls at the damn DDR machines but Fridays have been super awful lately. They give me a headache and it's impossible to maneuver around them. I'm staying home. Dunno what I'll do when I get there, maybe games." 

Power knew better. It was always games. 

"Pbbbbbbt" Paper lagged behind, dragging her feet in an exaggerated display of lethargy. "Dun' wanna play Power Battle right now." Power's ears perked up. "My deck's getting retired tomorrow and Heartbeat Love isn't coming out for another 3 weeks. I'm not building a new deck to play for 3 weeks before 'we' come out." Paper was referring to the next set of Magical Girl Power Battle, in which she and her teammates would be immortalized in cardboard. 

Pixel seemed unmoved by her plight.

"You have a billion other decks and enough cards to build any other deck you want."

"But I don't wanna plaaaaaay those. I wanna play Big Bang or us. I'm taking a break until Heartbeat Love is out." Nobody believed Paper could actually stop playing Magical Girl Power Battle for 3 whole weeks. But in Power's mind, one day was enough.

"Come to the gym with me Paper!"

"Why?"

Power knew better than to say "because you're looking a little scrawny" or "Because I miss you in the 6 hours we have between school and patrol" so she just said...

"It'll be fun"

Both Paper and Pixel looked at her with the standard gazes of disbelief that always accompanied this request. Neither of her little sisters were into exercise; something Power couldn't grasp or even fully accept. But she had an idea of how to sweeten the pot.

"I'm training in the ring with my sister today. You can see me wrestle." Power could see the look in Paper's eye. She might have her hooked.

"What does wrestling training even consist of? Do you just get dropped on your head until your neck stops breaking?" Power know Pixel was giving her sass but she wasn't completely wrong either.

"We're working on 'bumping'; it's a way to fall down without hurting yourself."

"YOU CAN FALL DOWN WITHOUT HURTING YOURSELF! I WANNA SEE!" Like a shot, Paper ran out in front of Power and crouched down in front of her in a rather thoughtless attempt to trip her friend. It worked. To the girl's surprise, despite not expecting Paper's foolish prank Power quickly stabilized her body and did a forward roll before springing up to her feet. 

"TAAA_DAA" Power couldn't resist showing off before admonishing Paper for her stupidity. "Also don't do that. It doesn't work as well on asphault or when I have my schoolgirl uniform and backpack on." Knowing that too much hostility would just cause Paper to cry Power changed her approach to 'concerned mother' "That could have hurt me paper and then I'd have to stop training or going on patrol for awhile. That could have hurt you and then you'd have to stop patrolling for awhile. Think before you act, ok"

Fortunately for everybody Paper is thoughtless rather than careless, so the gentle approach almost always got the point across. "I'm sorry but you said you always landed safetly" 

"I said I 'can' land safely. And it works better in a ring, in my gear, when I know the fall is coming." Power watched as Paper's eyes filled with understanding.

Pixel looked on at this display in a combination of disbelief and total belief. Realizing that calling Paper and idiot wouldn't be beneficial she changed the subject.

"Alright, almost to the metro. See you for monster times."

Power decided she was halfway there and it was time to shoot her shot. She also knew Pixel would be a harder sell. Maybe impossible.

"You too Pixel, come with us. We can make a Team Activity out of it." Power also knew Pixel was more responsive to some prickliness than Paper "Also, your legs are looking thin."

"Yeah almost like I don't have much need to use them ever."

"But you can move them and if you keep never using them they'll just atrophy to nothing."

"That's fine, I'm just gonna cook 'em up and eat them after I lose my powers. It'll spare me the 'if you're not paralyzed why are you in a wheelchair' bullshit"

Paper's face turned pale, utterly aghast.

"PLEASE DON'T EAT YOUR LEGS ALEXIS!" 

"Why, do you want to eat them? Because I have two. You'll have to tell me how you like your legs first so I know how to cook them."

Tears began to well up in Paper's eyes as she repeated her desperate please, this time with more blubbering.

"PLEASE PLEASE ALEXIS DON'T EAT YOUR LEGS..."

Power could tell it was time to enter mom mode.

"Pixel, please tell her you're kidding."

"You want me to lie to her?"

Paper was about to start sobbing, Pixel was too busy doing her bit to pick up on how much her words were legitimately hurting her. 

"PIXEL" Power said, motioning to Paper's face.

"Oh oh founder, Lily, Lily. Don't cry ok. Don't cry. I'm not actually going to cut my legs off and eat them. I'm sorry I forgot you take me seriously."

"Really?" Paper's face went from sadness to a doe-eyed childishness. Pixel still couldn't believe Paper was taking her that seriously.

"Yes I promise."

Lily sensed opportunity.

"But if you keep letting your legs atrophy they'll shrivel away then you'll *have* to eat them. You need to come with us to get some exercise."

"Walked right into that one" Pixel whispered as she affixed her gaze to Power, who just nodded in agreement.

"Fine, let's all go to the damn gym"

"And you have to give me a wheelchair ride!" Paper said, preparing to sit on Pixel's lap.

"NO!"


	2. A Day at the Gym

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things continue to be fine as our heroes go to the gym.

After quick trips home to change into gym clothes and tell their parents they would be out for awhile Pixel and Paper found themselves at the gym/apartment complex owned and run by Power's family. The complex was a square of apartments and in the middle where the courtyard would be was a two level gym complex. The lower rung, which was also where her family has run shows for their wrestling company since time forgotten, contained a ring, a few hundred folding chairs surrounding it and treadmills and elliptical machines towards the walls. The top level was a balcony suited for accommodating crowd overflow contained stationary bikes and both free weights and weight machines. Power met her friends at the door leading directly to the gym. 

"So we don't need memberships to get it do we? If so you could have mentioned it beforehand." Pixel gazed at the complex from the outside somewhat bewildered and a little intimidated. It didn't look any more intimidating or imposing than any other two-story complex but she was starting to feel self-conscious as she imagined groups of muscle-bound jocks laughing internally at her feeble attempts to exercise.

Maria looked at her absolutely bewildered that she would even consider that as a possibility. "Never for familia. Now come on. The changing rooms for girls are on the left...why do neither of you have a change of clothes?"

"We already changed our clothes, see?" Paper said as she pointed to the gray sweatclothes she was wearing. 

"I mean after you exercise. Do you want to go home in sweat-soaked clothes?"

"I doubt we're going to work up enough of a sweat for that to matter." Pixel never even considered two sets of clothes to be a remote necessity. 

"Gross" Power whispered under her breath. "Ok then. Pixel, I'll show you to the bikes since it's really the only way you can work out your legs here. Well that or the leg press machine but I imagine you'd be more comfortable with the bikes."

"You assume correctly"

"We have an elevator, I'll show you way. Paper I don't know what you want to do..."

"Where can I get the best view of you wrestling?"

"I'll show you to the treadmills."

As power escorted the girls to the lower level of the gym they were intercepted.

"These your new teammates? They look so nice." The voice belonged a fit, lean woman in her early twenties. Her muscles were impressive but unassuming compared their their bulky giant of a teammate. Her similar complexion and familiarity with Power led the girls to believe they were related.

"Hi, I'm Lily Windham, magical girl title Paper Victory. This is Pixel Victory. She's not always very nice but she's my friend anyway." 

Pixel glowered at her "Alexis Bailey. Don't mind Lily she doesn't know any better."

"Gloria Burke, welcome to the Alvarez gym."

Pixel looked confused. "If this is a family gym, why is it the Alvarez gym?"

"Well see when our mom married our dad they kept their original names because of the importance of the Alvarez name. Our mom is Alvarez, our dad is Burke. The boys got the Alvarez name, the girls got the Burke name for...reasons." The word 'reasons' slid out of Gloria's mouth like slime. Both sisters got a sour look on their face. 

Pixel saw what was up and didn't pry, Lily lacked the same tact. "What reasons."

Power chimed in "We should have all been named Alvarez but dad didn't like the idea of his family name being erased so him and my mom came to an agreement. The boys would be named Alvarez and the girls would be named Burke." 

Gloria continued "Becaaaauuuuuse this gym and this wrestling company lives on the Alvarez name and historically men have been bigger wrestling draws. So mom wanted to make sure that the biggest draw in the company would bear the name of the legacy."

Pixel decided that since the cat was out of the bag she'd chip in. "How has that worked out for them?"

"True to this point. Our eldest brother Eddie has been the ace of the company for the last few years. He's really good and he draws in the ladies to boot. But that's gonna change in a few years isn't it sis" Gloria said, ruffling her big sister's hair. 

"Heck yes!" 

"Maria here? If you didn't know she's an absolute prodigy. She trains harder than anybody, has taken to wrestling like she was born to do it, looks the part of the star and...and she's a magical girl on top of it. Now legally she can't make her debut until she's 18 but the plan is to have a show on her 18th birthday as a 'coming out' party. It'll be her debut in the ring and if she can garner a real PR following before that it could be the biggest show we've ever had. We may have to rent out a bigger arena. IF she can a PR following." As supportive as Gloria was being Maria clearly bristled under her last statement.

"It's not my fault agents think I'm fat. I'm all muscle under here." Rather than anger Maria's voice was almost whiny, a tone of voice more typical of Lily. 

"Your last team wasn't very media friendly either." 

"Don't start, they're still my sisters and I love them." 

"I know, I know. It just sucks you know. We have lightning in a bottle here Maria." 

Lily's eyes lit up "You don't have to worry about that anymore. My dad's company has a great PR department and he's setting me up to be the company mascot. Soon Team Victory is going to be EVERYWHERE! Maria will be bigger than Heartful Punch!"

Gloria looked pleased "I hope so. She has SO MUCH POTENTIAL and I just want her to realize it!" 

Maria said nothing but looked strangely displeased at the compliment. Alexis could read the room; Maria didn't like the pressure her sister was putting on her. She decided it behooved her to change the subject.

"So just so we're perfectly clear; wrestling is fake right?"

The sisters responded in unison: "IT'S CHOREOGRAPHED!" 

Alexis knew the answer, she was just pleased to see them on the same page again.


	3. Part 3 - Wrestling with Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fun day at the gym continues and everything will absolutely go swell

After pointing Lily to the treadmill and getting something resembling an assurance that Lily knew proper treadmill safety Maria escorted Alexis to the balcony.

"There arn't a lot of people here right now." Alexis left out the part where she was going to ask if Maria's family were doing alright financially.

"There's always a midday lull. Things will pick up in an hour or so. Good time to exercise." Maria said as she stopped at a bike.

"Oh wow, I thought it would be one of crappy bikes that hurt my ass while I have to hang onto the handlebars for dear life." Alexis said and Maria was suddenly glad her gym did not have those kind of bikes.

"Those are for over there and are for more intense exercising" Maria said pointing to the opposite end of the line of machines. "This is a recumbent bike, you can sit back and work out your legs safely and comfortably." Maria felt a little guilty pressuring Alexis into biking now knowing that she can't even use normal exercise bikes properly.

"Ok thanks, I'll be down to watch you get dropped on your head after I get tired out or bored." Alexis said as she got ready to transfer herself from her chair to the bike.

"Let me help." Maria said as she attempted to lift Alexis out of the chair.

"No, no, I'm fine I'm fine stoppit" Alexis protested as she childishly slapped Maria's hands off her. From where Maria had already lifted her it was an easy slide in the bike.

"Oh, ok. Sorry. See you in a bit"

"It's fine" Alexis said as she stuck her feet in the pedals.

Maria got back to ground floor with her sister waiting for her.

"Ready to get things going?"

"Of course"

"Ok, let's start with 20 back bumps and 20 forward rolls"

"Got it"

"Remember to take a break after each set of five so you don't get dizzy"

Maria walked away from her sister silently pantomiming her last works.

"Remember when you tried doing all 20 rolls in a row and almost barfed?"

"Yes Gloria I remember a year ago." Maria said as she got into the ring and started her warm up exercises.

Several minutes later Maria finished the exercises Gloria gave her; despite her minor protests she did them in the manner her sister described and as such dizziness was kept to a minimum. Meanwhile Lily, having somehow not fallen off the treadmill, decided she was bored and it was a better use of her time to get a front row seat to watch her friend fall down a bunch.

"Ok Maria, you ready for body slams"

"Yup"

"Ok you know the drill; I get you in the position, you jump and I guide you to the ground"

"Yeah, 'jump' got it" Maria said, watching her friend take a front row seat.

"Ok go." Maria seemingly followed Gloria's instructions, but the conversion from the pick up to the slam was slow and awkward on Gloria's part; throwing her sister more like a sack of potatoes than the smooth slam professional wrestling fans would expect out of the basic move. Gloria stood up straight after dropped Maria, seemingly exasperated.

"That was barely a hop Maria, what the hell? I had to practically deadlift you."

"I'm Leaaaarning" Maria facetiously whined, with her back still on the mat.

"We've done this enough. I know you know better."

"Alright, alright I've got it. More jumps." Maria jumped to her feet ready to take the move again.

The sister again began the sequence; this time the elevation Gloria got on her sister was substantially better and it looked like the move would proceed smoothly...until she lost her balance and fell on her back with Maria on top of her.

"ONE..TWO...THREE!" Maria slapped the mat as her pancaked sister struggled under her. "I WIN!"

Gloria slid out from under her much larger sister. "Good job Kareem" she said in reference to legendary master of the slam dunk Kareem Baker "are you done screwing around?"

"You told me to jump more, so I did the best jump I could"

"At me. You threw your momentum at me. You know what you did. You know you're too big for me to compensate when you do this shit. Are you ready to do this right?"

Maria chuckled and replied 'Maaaaybe"

"You are such a brat sometimes!"

"I'm your baby sister. It's my duty."

Lily yelled from the front row "Stop hassling your sister and do it right. I didn't come all the way from NE town to watch this botchfest!"

Gloria was grateful for the support from the crowd and nodded approvingly.

"How do you know what a botchfest even is?" Maria asked, confused that Lily would know that kind of wrestling lingo.

"Some people my dad work with are fans and I picked it up from them. Now do it RIGHT!"

Maria shrugged, guessing she'd have to do it right. The next five body slams went off without a hitch.

Nearly a half hour had passed and Alexis felt very done with the bike.

"Well my legs feel tired, which is new I guess" she said as she pulled her wheelchair into position to transfer herself. Unfortunately Maria's 'help' distracted her from one key part of wheelchair transport protocol; she didn't lock the wheels. Consequently when she started putting body weight on the back of the of the chair it rolled out from under her, causing her to lose her balance and fall.

"FUCK! OW!" Alexis exclaimed as she hit the crown of her head on an adjacent bike as she crumpled to the ground. The only thing that really hurt was her pride, and the best way to heal that would be to dust herself off and put herself back in her chair. Then she remembered her loud exclamation.

"Oh please don't rush up here to help me Maria." She thought to herself. "Maybe she didn't hear me"

Everybody heard her. Including Maria, who was upside down at the time doing back body drop drills with Gloria.

"Alexis!" Maria said, springing from her back to her feet with amazing alacrity. Then, in what seemed to be a single fluid motion, she vaulted over the ring ropes, landed on the gymnasium floor, transformed into her magical girl outfit, blazed a path through the folding chairs and jumped to the balcony level 15+ feet above, scaring a concerned weightlifter who was also coming to check on Alexis.

"AH FOUNDER!" Alexis exclaimed as she saw the yellow and red form of her teammate fly over the guardrail.

"Are you ok? What happened" Maria charged to her side.

"I'm fine I'm fine. I fell off the bike and hit my head. That's it. Just back off and let me get back to my cha..."

"Oh no you hit your head?!" Maria picked up her fallen friend, deaf to her protests, and ran towards the elevator.

"Maria...MARIA! MY CHAIR!" Alexis said, what was left of her pride being thrown in the garbage by her overbearing friend. "At least she didn't jump over the balcony with me" she thought as they took the elevator down.

Maria gently placed Alexis in a folding chair as she reverted to her civilian form. "Gloria get the flashlight, Alexis may have given herself a concussion."

Now that Lily had time to process the amazing display that just happened in front of her she was also concerned with Alexis's well-being.

"Lily, are you ok? What happened?"

"I forgot to lock my wheels before getting on the bike so the chair rolled out from under me when I tried to get off the bike. Fell, hit my head. I'm FINE. Except now I'm nowhere near my chair. Which is NOT FINE Maria"

Maria looked sheepish as Gloria came back with the flashlight. "Oh right, sorry. Guess I panicked a little"

Gloria glared at her little sister. "Go get her wheelchair Maria. And maybe think a little before freaking out."

"But she could have been hurt." Maria let out in a low whine.

"Maybe, but overreacting doesn't fix anything. Does she do this on patrol?" Gloria asked while looking at Alexis' eyes.

"She jumped off a building to save us from a bunch of frog monsters. That's how we met." Lily piped in. Maria wished she hadn't.

" _Jumped off a building _Maria,__ seriously"

"IT WAS A PHOENIX SPLASH! IT WAS COOL AS HELL! And I splatted like, 4 frogs."  
  
"She didn't splash any of you did she? Did she at least yell a warning?"  
  
"Is PHOOOOOOOENIX SPLAAAAAASH a warning?" Lily said, vividly recalling every detail of Maria's auspicious debut into her life.  
  
"It was only 2 stories. I can fall _way_ further than that. I'm a magical girl, remember?"  
  
"Girls, how many buildings have you jumped off?"  
  
"Zero." Alexis quickly replied  
  
"Does falling off buildings count? Because then like...4? If not then maybe closer to 1" Lily replied, wracking her brain.   
  
Gloria finished checking Alexis's eyes. "How often do you jump off buildings Maria?"   
  
"Not...that...oft..." Maria began to reply before Lily interrupted.  
  
"At least once a night." 

"If mom and dad knew how reckless you were being they'd freak out."

"Mom and dad think I'm invincible. I've been doing it this way for years, why are you freaking about it? Are you going to be like this my whole career. Because I'm _going_ to use the Phoenix Splash as my finisher whether you think I should or not."   
  
"I keep telling you you're putting on the wrong kind of mass for that move. You're carrying too much muscle weight in your abdomen. You need lean muscle mass to be able to control your body like that!"   
  
"I just need practice, which _you_ won't let me do!"   
  
Alexis was really not a fan of confrontation so she decided to end it the best way she knew how. She transformed.   
  
"What are you doing Alexis?" Maria asked. Alexis didn't reply in words; she simply silently beckoned her chair from the balcony, planted herself in it and transformed back. Maria realized she was too busy arguing with her sister to get it for her.  
  
"I'm sorry Alexis. This probably hasn't been the best trip for either or you."

  
"I had fun." Lily replied, seemingly oblivious to the rising tensions.  
  
"Don't worry about it Maria. It's ok." Alexis wasn't mad at Maria. She just wanted the fighting to stop. "But all the same I think I'm going to get going. I need some me time before we fight tonight."  
  
"Maria..." Gloria didn't know if she should engage with her sister at this point but had something she had to point out. "Don't forget to introduce them to Ma. She'll kill you if you don't."   
  
"Oh, right right. You HAVE to meet my ma. She is so curious about you. Can your 'me' time wait another 5 minutes?"  
  
"Of course. Moms are very important." Was Alexis' reply. Lily nodded in agreement.  
  
"Ok Gloria. I'm gonna hit the weights when I'm done. Thanks for the training today." Maria had that after-argument fatigued dullness in her voice.  
  
"Ok Maria." Gloria responded in kind.  
  



	4. Everything is Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the Chapter Title

"Alright, our apartment straight ahead. That door leads to the apartment hallway, our place is straight ahead."

"Don't you have a really big family? How do you live in a single apartment?" Lily asked, having completely forgotten that Maria had explained this before in the past. 

"Only me, ma and dad live in that apartment now. A lot of our family live in this complex though. Gloria lives directly above us." Maria answered as if she had never answered this question before.

"Is she gonna stomp around later on top of your bedroom?" Maria continued the line of conversation, maybe not in the most elegant way.

"Nah. We just had a little disagreement. Nothing serious."

Alexis chimed in "Would she if it was a more serious argument?"

Maria had to think for a bit "No no, she's an adult. At least I don't think she would." She didn't want to admit to her 'little sisters' that she herself might not be above that kind of behavior. The conversation ended on that note until the trio entered Maria's home.

"MA! YOU HOME?" Maria yelled as she walked into the kitchen, knowing full well she was. 

From the living room door emerged a short, heavy-set woman in her mid-50s with Maria's tawny complexion, flowing black hair, a glowing smile. 

"Are these your new little sisters?" Mama Alvarez asked Maria without a hint of actual doubt.

"Wait, you told your mom we're your little sisters?" Alexis quietly asked Maria, but not quietly enough.

"Of course! You protect my baby out there. You are family in this household!" Alexis was moved by this declaration from somebody she had never met. Mama Alvarez turned her attention to Lily. "I'm guessing you're Paper Victory?" Her question was met by an excited nod from Lily. "Oh but what do I call you honey? Maria has talked about you two but I didn't catch names. I'm sorry."

"Lily Windham!" She excitedly answered as Mama Alvarez began opening her arms. Lily saw what was coming and responded in kind, glomping her new surrogate mother with a giant bear hug, or at least as giant as Lily's tiny frame would allow. Once 'Ma' let go she turned her attention to Alexis. 

"Alexis Bailey" She quickly answered. Ma came in for another hug but seemed to struggle to bend over. In a split second Alexis knew what had to be done. She put her hand up against Ma's forehead as if to say 'it's ok I got this' then locked her wheels. 

"Help me out girls, gonna need a little help." Alexis said as she started to arise. Maria helped her to feet as she began to stretch her arms out even as the vertigo was starting to make her feel entirely too top-heavy. Ma looked shocked as she rushed in to put a deathgrip on Alexis' torso. Seeing that maybe Ma might struggle to hold Alexis vertical both Maria and Lily came in to help in the form of a massive quadruple hug.

"Sweetness you didn't have to get for me!" Ma said, overwhelmed as the gesture, or even that Alexis actually could get up.

Alexis didn't answer until her teammates assisted her back into her chair.

"Moms are very important." 

"Oh my goodness Maria, you found yourself some winners this time." Ma said as Maria's face soured just a little.

"My old team was good..."

"Yes, yes. But I only ever met one of them. Candi. She was a nice girl but I never met the other one at all. And from the stories she sounded so mean."

"She...had her problems ma. Please don't judge her too harshly." Alexis had gotten the feeling Maria and her new mom have had this conversation before.

"Of course sweetie of course." Ma Alvarez said to bury the topic. She considered Maria's old partners to be family the same way her new little sisters are but could never stop being sad that they didn't really seem to feel the same way about her. Of course they were family. Nobody who kept her baby safe on the streets at night could never not be family, even if her 'baby' was nigh-invincible in her eyes.

"It was really nice to meet you...Ma" Despite her previous exclamation Alexis still felt weird addressing this woman with a matronly title. "But it's about time we got going. My mom has a big meal planned"

"Me too, it's pizza night!" Lily followed up. Pizza night was really nothing special at the Windham house, her dad was no cook and he spent long nights at the office anyway. But she didn't want her new mom to think she was malnourished.

"How nice. Have fun girls. Stay safe tonight. Keep my baby out of trouble. The outside door is through the living room. We'll have to have a big family meal sometime!."

"That sounds nice." Alexis was warmed by the sentiment but that couldn't stop that statement from being a lie. She was a fussy eater and didn't take to other people's cooking.

"Yay!" Lily replied as she made her way to the door. 

After both girls made their way out of the door...

"Ok ma I need to get my sets in. Love you."

Ma Alvarez gave her 'baby' a peck on the cheek as she made her way back to the gym. 

Gloria was on the treadmill when Maria reentered the gym and immediately made for the elevator. She knew Maria was set to do her reps. She wanted to talk to her little sister but she knew not to bother her for at least an hour lest she get pissed again for interrupting her routine. Just as well; she had her own routine to attend to. 

It was a tense hour for Gloria. She knew they had things to address even if Maria didn't. Eventually she made her way to the balcony. Maria was on the leg press machine.

"Hey Gloria, can you spot me? I haven't done my benchpresses yet." Maria said, ending her leg press reps as soon as she showed up. Gloria knew this was Maria trying to clear the air between them. 

"Sure". Gloria said as Maria set up what all but the most devoted gym rats would call 'a lot' of weights to the bar.

Gloria waiting until Maria was a few reps in before speaking again. 

"Maria, I think we need to talk."

Maria wasn't mad at her sister but didn't want to be nagged again either.

"About my exercise routine again?"

"No, about other things...can you do a blanket and popcorn night at my place?" Gloria said, invoking a powerful sisterly ritual between the two girls.

"Always." Maria said as she continued her reps unabated. "Let me just finish this and shower". 

"Alright. I'll get everything set up while you're doing that. I'll leave the door unlocked; you don't have to knock". 

"Ok." After that the sisters enjoyed a tranquil silence (minus the noise of the gym filling with other patrons doing their own routines) until the appointed hour.

Maria entered Gloria's apartment living room to exactly what she expected to see; a giant bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, flanked by two mugs of hot chocolate and a sister in her pajamas on the right side of the couch under a giant quilt stitched by their maternal grandmother. Gloria's timing was, as always, surreal. Steam was still escaping both hot chocolate mugs as Maria snuggled in on the opposite side of the quilt.

"So what's up?" Maria said, placing the bowl of popcorn between them. "This about the argument earlier?"

"No...not exactly. It's just I know where that all came from. It's frustration. On both of our ends." Gloria said as if in an extended sigh.

"Oh?" Maria shoveled a handful of popcorn into her mouth. She was very hungry after her workout and fully planed to eat most of the bowl over the course of their talk.

"Yeah. I know you're frustrated because I keep running you through the same drills."

"A little. I mean you're a great trainer but I'm about to move on."

"Yeah...about that. I'm not sure how much more I can teach you." 

"Why not?"

"Maria..." Gloria let out a sigh "You want to do things I can't teach you. I'm a mat technician. I'm no good for teaching people high spots or how to take big bumps safely. Now if you want to learn mat wrestling..."

"Pbbbt" Maria sprayed a little popcorn debris out of her lips.

"Yeah I know. You do need some teaching there though. Even if you don't wanna do that stuff you're going to be wrestling people who do. And if you want to do 30 minute epics you need to do that stuff to pace yourself."

"Yeah yeah" Maria had heard this 100 times and was hoping this wasn't about to turn into another nagfest.

"I'm not going to belabor the point right now. I'm just saying...I'm not the best trainer for you. You're about ready to move on from me."

Maria looked aghast "You don't want to train me anymore"

"Of course I do Maria. I want you to do everything in my power to make you the best wrestler this family has ever seen. But I've only been wrestling 3 years myself. Even I'm still learning the trade. I can only teach you the basics. And I'm kinda small compared to you. I can't safely lift you for moves beyond what we've already done. You're going to need a better trainer than me to help you reach your potential. There are some other trainers who work with us I could..."

"I wanted it to be a family thing..." Maria looked at Gloria with sad puppydog eyes as she crammed another mouthful of popcorn into her maw.

"It still can be..."

"How? Eddie has a family, Angie isn't even a wrestler, our cousins are too busy securing their spot on the show to train somebody who might usurp them and then there's Hector." There was a pregnant pause between the two girls "Hector hates me doesn't he?"

"You are his sister and he loves you as well as he can." Gloria tried to frame it in a way that wouldn't break Maria's heart. "Hector...has problems. Always has. He's the runt Maria. We all know this. He knows this. No matter how much we try to prop him up it's true. He's been in Eddie's shadow his whole life. He feels inferior to Eddie as a wrestler and as a person. Eddie's the headliner while he's stuck being 'El Rana'; jerking the curtain and playing to the kids." 

"But the kids LOVE him. And he's great at comedy."

"The jester isn't the king Maria. He craves respect and to stand with his brother on even footing. And if being in Eddie's shadow all his life wasn't bad me..."

"I came along."

"...Yeah. He was a teen when you were a toddler so he never got to know you really but then you came into your own and lo and behold, another Alvarez..."

"Burke"

"Of course but you get the idea. Another sibling to overshadow him. Worse than a big brother. A little sister. Bigger than him, stronger than him. Almost as good a wrestler now as he is. And now a magical girl to boot? He's warped by jealousy I don't think you'll ever understand."

Maria didn't have words, only misty eyes. Gloria continued.

"I really think Ma needs to give him his chance at the top. Just so he can finally get it out of his system. Because so long as he can blame 'being stuck as El Rana' for his failure he'll just get more and more resentful. Maybe he just needs that once chance to shine. Maybe Eddie can 'sneakily' carry him to a good enough match to get the crowd to roar and maybe that will be enough for Hector to feel a mote of pride for once in his life." 

"Why won't ma do it?" 

"She keeps trying to convince him of his value. She keeps telling him the clowns are the part of circus everybody remembers. And for his gift with humor you'd never know how miserable he is. But really it's business. Ma's siblings are on her case for featuring Eddie so heavily. Our cousins too. They think it's nepotism.

"That's bullshit. Eddie's just better. He's the best." 

"I know but hubris is something that makes for great wrestlers. You don't want to sacrifice your health to be told anybody is better than you." 

"You seem to be pretty comfortable in your niche." 

"I don't need the limelight. I just enjoy helping others be their best. Especially little sisters." 

Maria smiled.

"But yeah. Ma is under a lot of pressure. She knows as well as anybody that Hector isn't good enough to have the last match of the night. And she really doesn't want the backlash to come when YOU make your debut and suddenly she's put THREE of her children in the top of the card."

"It really is my fault. No wonder Hector hates me."

"Hector needs to find peace with himself Maria. Please don't judge him too harshly. But if he starts taking his bullshit out of you let me know so we can both kick his ass." 

An uncertain grin appeared on Maria's face. "I can handle him on my own." 

"Yeah but it'll hurt more if I do it. I'm his favorite. I'm the only one whose a wrestler who he can favorably compare himself to." 

The uncertain smile turned into an uncertain chuckle. "Ok then." 

"Alright, enough about Hector, we got away from what I was saying. Training. I'm sure Eddie can take him from his busy life to teach his baby sister the stuff I can't." 

"But he has a baby of his own now." 

"The most important part of having a baby is finding time to get away from the baby so you don't go insane. Every parent knows this." 

"But he was practically out of the house when I was a toddler. It's not like we're even that close." 

"If you think Eddie won't jump at the chance to finally get to know his youngest sister I guess you really don't know him. You should. He's super nice. Besides him, not all of our cousins are solely concerned with their spot. If you want to learn how to do a phoenix splash, Phil will help you get to that point. But I mean, you already know *how* to do a Phoenix Splash. You do it all the time when you're transformed, huh?"

"Are you going to get on me for that again?"

"No, I only got on you in the first place because I'm mad I can't teach you myself. I can't even do a moonsault."

Maria finally perked into a full smile "You do your best. Sorry I asked too much of you." 

"I wish it was more. That having been said, Phil is going to tell you the same thing I've been telling you; you're putting on the wrong kind of muscle for high flying" 

Maria was suddenly feeling a combination of playful and defiant. "BAH! I'll prove you all wrong." 

A chuckle escaped Gloria's lips as she imagined how many headers her obstinate sister was going to be taking into crash pads in the future. "I'll help you set things up tomorrow. Do you want me to call Eddie for you or do you just want his number?" 

"...I'll call him myself. It'll make the request sound more sincere. Thanks." 

"Ok then, serious talk times over. What movie you wanna watch?" 

"Crimson Phoenix 5" Maria requested. Gloria knew it was almost always a Crimson Phoenix movie she wanted, it was just the sequel that was in question. 

"You got it." Gloria put the almost empty popcorn bowl back on the coffee table and got up to get the video; happy she could have some happy sister bonding in the hours before she had to worry for her life again.


End file.
